Two teenagers lost limbs in separate shark attacks off the coast of North Carolina, according to the Irish Times.
The victims of the attacks, a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, are on the road to recovery as they are said to be in “fair” condition after surgery, according to the U.K. publication The Belfast Telegraph.
The female was reportedly attacked first on Sunday while the male was attacked less than two hours later roughly two miles away. Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace reportedly stated that she believed that workers didn’t have enough time to decide to close off the beach before the second attack had occurred.
“I saw someone carry this girl [out of the water] and people were swarming around and trying to help. It was quite terrible,” explained Steve Bouser who was present at the beach.
The girl reportedly lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury while the boy lost his left arm in the attack.
There was reportedly a lot of blood as people were trying to apply makeshift tourniquets to stop the bleeding once the young girl was taken out of the water. People were also reportedly asking her questions to try to keep her conscious.
The Oak Island town manager reportedly sent a team to get everyone out of the water while the Brunswick County Sheriff’s office had sent a helicopter up and down the coast in order to patrol to the beach.